Lyla's life is planned. In a few months, she'll be leaving her stifling small village and the vicious rumors that have marked her as unsuitable to be anyone's wife, for the endless opportunities of the large port city of Balast. There she will finish her training as a magical healer, join an adventuring team, and see the world beyond the mountainous valleys of the High Passes that she's lived in her whole life.

Then a tragedy strikes.

Lyla doesn't know the secret that the soldier who saved her life is keeping from her. Worse yet, she doesn't know that he accidentally bound himself to her when he saved her life and that without her he will slowly lose his mind. What she does know is that her parents, the village elders, and even her best friend, are falling all over themselves to marry her off to this nearly perfect stranger with far too many muscles for her to take him seriously.

Can she escape this unexpected marriage that is messing up her plans for greatness? Will she even want to? Or will this be exactly the kind of adventure she was hoping for all along?





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Empire of Man - Book 1: The First Empress

When the other soldiers wandered off, Wroth gestured for Lan and Lindy to join him. The two mages could competently create a privacy barrier and he needed to speak with them privately. They meandered quietly into Wroth’s tent before opening his mind to both. 


“We need a private conversation.” Wroth sent to both and gripped his head with a wince at the pain it caused him. He hated communicating that way. Rather than respond and make it worse, both subordinates nodded and Lindowyth got to work. 


The barrier went up with competent deliberation. Each layer added new effects and tightened the feeling of isolation around Wroth, Ward Against Eavesdropping, Privacy Shield, Obfuscation, and Shield. Her sell casting was not tainted with the rush of haste nor slowed by the difficulty of the work. It was simply the natural pace at which her magic comfortably flowed. 


Chapter 30 - Calling For Help